Tim,


Several questions:


1) What are you shooting this summer quite often?


2) What camera/lens combo(s) are you going to be using?


3) Quantify "money to Justify" $100.00, 200.00, etc...


If you have bought a camera body and invested in a good lens or good lenses then how can you not justify investing in a good externalflash? This to me is a very important part of my art.


Here's some examples of what can be accomplished using a $135.00 flash from Ritz. I like this flash for several reasons. 1) E-TTL 2) Dual flash. Bounce head plus an optional on-axis fill flash 3) Modular. Bottom Canon module is seperate. Can be swapped for manual, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, etc. If the ears break off I can replace it for $35.00USD.


Here are some examples:


1st shot: Action stopping light. colors pop. The backlight from the large window would have made this shot very difficult without flash. I used the head to bounce light off of the cieling and the on-axis strobe to fill in everything else. Nice even light withGood depth.





2nd shot: Same strobe, just the main flash head. I used it hand held by attaching it to an off-camera cord. Shot through a sheet and used poster board to bounce in directional fill. This shot has one light source only!





3rd Shot: birthday picture... nothin special, I just like it, and I like the way the flash bounced off the wall and ceiling behind me gets plenty of soft, intense light on my subjects.





Last Shot: The standard external flash bounce setup for indoor shooting in small to medium size rooms.





Hope this helps with your justification process,


Chuck